The Betrayal

Boots crunched over broken glass.

The gunfire suddenly stopped, leaving an eerie silence broken only by the moans of the dying. From the wreckage stepped someone whom victor never expected, someone he considered his brother in all but blood, the man who had fought beside him for fifteen years.

Xavier.

"Even the greatest empires fall, Victor," Xavier announced, stepping over the body of Victor's closest lieutenant. "Rome. Babylon. And now... you."

Victor barely registered the betrayer's face as he stepped through the wreckage, gun in hand. His vision blurred, the pain clawing at his senses. But nothing—not the bullets, not the blood—felt as sharp as seeing Selena stand beside Xavier.

"Even kings bleed, Reis," Xavier continued, nudging Victor's leg with his boot.

Victor forced a chuckle, tasting iron. "Took you long enough." The pain of betrayal filled his face, twisting his features. "What's this about, Xavier? Money? Power? Or just jealousy finally eating you alive?"

Xavier circled him like a predator, enjoying the moment. "Oh, I've wanted to see you like this for years. The great Victor Reis, bleeding out on his imported marble floors."

"Then why wait?" Victor spat blood onto Xavier's polished shoes. "Why not do it yourself instead of hiding behind a small army?"

Xavier's laugh echoed in the destroyed penthouse. "Oh, it wasn't me," he said, smirking. "I just set the stage. She did the rest."

Victor's gaze snapped to Selena. She wouldn't meet his eyes.

"No," he rasped. "Selena... tell me you didn't..."

She finally looked at him, her face a mask he couldn't read. "You never saw it coming, did you? The mighty Victor Reis, brought down by a woman."

"Why?" The word felt like glass in his throat. "Five years... was it all a lie?"

She took a step back, her voice hollow. "You should have known better than to trust anyone in this world."

Xavier chuckled, placing a possessive hand on Selena's waist. "She was quite convincing, wasn't she? Had you wrapped around her finger while we planned every detail."

Victor felt the betrayal cut deeper than any bullet, a pain that reached into his soul and tore it apart. "I gave you everything," he said to Selena, each word dripping with the blood in his mouth. "Everything."

"And now you have nothing," she replied, but for just a moment, something flickered in her eyes—something that didn't match her cold words.

Xavier raised the gun, aiming straight at Victor's skull. "I've dreamed of this moment for years. Any last words, old friend?"

Victor's eyes never left Selena's face. "Was it worth it? Whatever he promised you?"

But before Xavier could fire, Selena's voice cut through the room.

"Wait."

For a brief, foolish moment, hope flickered in Victor's chest.

"What are you doing?" Xavier demanded, his finger still on the trigger.

"Let me," Selena said, holding out her hand for the gun. "I want to be the one he sees last."

Xavier hesitated, then handed her the weapon with a cruel smile. "Poetic. I like it."

Selena stepped forward, knelt beside Victor. The gun hung loosely at her side as her fingers brushed his cheek, her touch unbearably soft.

"Did any of it mean anything to you?" Victor whispered, searching her eyes for the woman he thought he knew.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, leaning close enough that only he could hear. Her lips nearly touched his ear. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Then—pain.

She pressed down hard on his bullet wound with her free hand.

Victor gasped, agony exploding through his body. His vision went white with pain.

"Why?" he choked out, searching her eyes for an answer as she pulled back.

She didn't give one. Instead, she placed the gun on the floor beside him, just out of reach. A gesture that Xavier couldn't see from his angle—a gesture that made no sense.

"It's done," she said, rising to her feet. A single tear tracked down her cheek before she wiped it away. "He'll bleed out in minutes. Let's go before someone calls the police."

"You're right," Xavier agreed, casting one last look at Victor. "A quick death is too good for him anyway."

And walked out the door while Xavier followed behind her, chuckling. "You know, Selena, I wasn't sure you had it in you. But you've proven your loyalty tonight."

Their voices faded as they left, but Victor heard Selena's final words: "There are things worse than death, Xavier. Remember that."

The door closed behind them, leaving Victor alone among the dead and dying.

Darkness threatened to drag Victor under.

Pain. Rage. Betrayal.

He lay in his own blood, his body screaming for him to let go. The ceiling above him blurred and refocused as he fought to stay conscious.

"Boss?" A weak voice called from the corner. Rodriguez, his youngest soldier, was still alive, though a dark stain spread across his chest. "Should I... call for help?"

Victor tried to speak, but blood bubbled from his lips. Instead, he crawled, each movement sending fresh waves of agony through his body. His fingers closed around the gun Selena had left—the gun that made no sense unless...

No. He wouldn't let himself hope. Not now.

"Let them... think I'm dead," he finally managed to tell Rodriguez. "All of them."

He can't die

Not like this.

Not by their hands.

He rolled onto his side, using the gun as leverage to push himself toward his desk. Each inch felt like a mile, each breath a battle.

If I survive this... I will fucking come back.

Victor's mind raced despite the pain. Xavier would take his territory, his businesses, his men. The empire he'd built from nothing would be stripped away in days. But Xavier had made one critical mistake.

He'd left Victor alive.

His vision darkened at the edges, but he forced himself to stay conscious. He reached the hidden compartment in his desk, fingers fumbling with the latch that required his specific fingerprint.

Inside: a phone. Another gun. Cash. Passports. Everything he needed to disappear before he returned.

And when he did—every last one of them will burn.

"Selena," he whispered, her name a curse and a prayer on his lips. "You should have made sure I was dead."

With trembling hands, he dialed the only number that mattered now. The only person outside these walls he could still trust.

As the phone rang, Victor made a vow sealed in blood and pain: he would return from the ashes. He would reclaim what was his. And he would uncover the truth—no matter how ugly—about why the woman he loved had destroyed everything.

"Jordan," he rasped when the call connected. "I need help, we were hit."

The voice on the other end was calm, efficient. "Location?"

"My penthouse. Everyone's dead except Rodriguez and me. And I need to stay that way—dead to the world."

"Twenty minutes," Jordan replied. "Don't die on me before I get there boss."

Victor ended the call and looked at the gun Selena had left. Why give him a weapon? Why not just let Xavier finish the job?

As his vision darkened and his consciousness swam in and out, His thoughts went back to Selena's action.

Nothing made sense. But one thing was clear—this was just the beginning.

He would rebuild in the shadows.

He would return stronger than before.

And when the time came, he would make them all fucking pay for their betrayal.

Starting with her.